Regular mode scans for duplicate files by either their exact content, their standard attributes (such as size, name or date), or a combination of both.
This mode is usually the fastest to scan and makes a good starting point for checking for duplicates. Try using 'Same Content' to find exact file duplicates.
Same content
This option will find files with exactly the same content inside, regardless of name or date. Duplicate files matched with this technique will always be the same size on disk.
Advanced settings
For advanced users, the method using for comparing exact files can be changed here:
Byte-to-byte (Compares all identically sized files against the other on a byte-by-byte basis. This will often be slower than the hashing methods.)
Hash algorithms (MD5, SHA256, etc)
Hash algorithms generate a 'fingerprint' for each file. These are then compared for duplicates. More info here.
Similar content
This option allows you to find files with similar binary content. The minimum similarity is controlled by changing the percentage.
Running a scan using this option can be several times slower than with the Same content option.
As this option is a binary comparison it doesn't take the file format into account, it may not produce useful results on some file types, especially compressed files. It's recommended to use the targeted modes (Image, Audio and Video) for finding specific file formats.
Ignore content
Use this option if you want to completely ignore the actual content of the file, and instead compare by file attributes such as file name, size or date.
You should select additional criteria from the 'More duplicate options' section when using this option.
